This application claims the priority of Application No. H09-243709, filed Sep. 9, 1997 in Japan, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to technology for polishing leads of a semiconductor package, such as an LSI package. And more particularly, the invention relates to a method and an apparatus for polishing leads, which contribute to improve the reliability of a semiconductor package.
In semiconductor fabrication processes, a semiconductor package is formed to protect an LSI chip contained therein. To improve the quality of a surface-mounting type of semiconductor package, it is important to make leads to have good contact-reliability.
Conventionally, the leads of an LSI package are manually polished with a brush, or the like. According to the conventional way, however, the polishing process takes a long period of time, and it is difficult to polish the leads without any damages, such as bent and break thereon. Further, it is difficult to polish the leads precisely to provide enough contact-reliability.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a method by which leads of a semiconductor package can be polished efficiently and precisely.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus, which polishes leads of a semiconductor package efficiently and precisely.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
According to a first aspect of the invention, in a method for polishing leads of a semiconductor package, a plurality of semiconductor packages are arranged in a certain manner. Then, the leads are automatically polished. The semiconductor packages may be masked to expose at least a part of the leads to be polished.
According to a second aspect of the invention, an apparatus for polishing leads of a semiconductor package, includes a package holder unit, which holds a plurality of semiconductor packages thereon. The apparatus further includes a polishing member that automatically polishes the leads of the semiconductor packages held on the package holder unit. The apparatus may further include a mask that covers the semiconductor packages to expose at least a part of the leads to the polishing member.